Tutkhu puts "awkward" on a whole other level. From his strangely sized limbs to the odd bone protrusions on his eblows, Tutkhu might only be considered handsome in an aesthetically pleasing way. His arms, for example, are shorter above the elbow than they are below, and the protrusion on the joint, especially the feathers sprouting there, only makes them look more so. His legs, too, are oddly shaped--long and spindly beneath the fluffs of feather and furr, with only the slightest padding of muscle possible. The feathers make his legs look thicker around the thigh, though they soon slim down into regular-looking birdlike appendages. His knees are not visible in any but the slightest curves beneath the feathers. His legs thicken around his hips, but thin again at his waist until they reach his breast feathers, giving him an oddly feminine hourglass figure. Above his breast feathers is a sort of crest, a circlet of lighter, cream-colored feathers trailing around his neck and down onto his shoulders.
From the shoulder, Tutkhu stands at 5'11. This is not counting his neck, which he attempted to elongate only a few seasons ago, when Fromina was first fluctuating and going out of control. It was a shape shifting accident, but as a result of his half-transformation, Tutkhu can neither complete the shift or go back to the way he was--he's stuck with his neck, which stretches another foot, making him stand 7'0 at full height. He tends to crane his neck over so that his face is more level with his shoulders, unless he happens to be conversing with someone particularly tall. His hands and feet, while not covered in feathers, are, peculiarly enough, not covered in scales, either; they are, in fact, just pink-white skin. Attached to each toe and finger is a sharp brown talon, used mostly to cut minor things in his crafts and occasionally used as his tattoo needle.
From head to toe, Tutkhu's base is a sandy brown-red color, rather like wet clay. In some spots, however, particularly along his crest, lining his throat, down his stomach and inside his wings, Tutkhu has creamy white markings, splattered with darker yolk-like specks and, on some occasions, brown. These markings also line his wrists and ankles, leading to the pink-white skin of his hands and feet. Some of his feathers are darker, more of a wet mud and dirt combination that that of sand and eggs, such as the feathers on his elbows, the backs of his wings, and his tail feathers. His face, hidden beneath his mask, also has these darker markings, in splotches along with yolk yellow and brown, on the cream-white mask of feathers that covers his whole face. Attached to his temples in place of ears are odd feathered antenna, another trait bred into the tribe; they hold a kind of aerokinesis, in that they give the Jagvolks the ability to sense changes in the wind; the tribe is well-protected from sand storms due to these genetic marvels. His beak is black, while his large, owlish eyes are gray.
Having grown up in the Uhai desert, among poisonous Sand Tmuka and stampeding Ohrayyin, Tutkhu can't help but be aware of his surroundings. He's self-taught to be alerted to even the slightest change in the sand around him, on the off-chance that a pack of Sarrakko attack. Because of this innate caution, he was often in charge of watching the herd for the Shonom and Thunum as a nioti, and thus is also very trustworthy and somewhat skilled when it comes to training animals animals. He goes about his duties in a dignified manner, leaving behind the young, prank-pulling youth of only a few years earlier. He tends to believe that, in order to be taken seriously, he must be serious, and while this is not always the case--he looks after the Niotis of the tribe, after all--it is most often what he does. His dignity is something he takes seriously, and often in order to preserve it he can be a bit bullheaded and stubborn; in the end, he usually knows the right thing to do. Getting him to do it is not quite that simple.
Tutkhu has a very delicate way of handling things; he tries his best to be diplomatic, and hear both sides of a story when he handles disputes among the tribe in the Shonom's place, but he finds the best way to go about doing this is to step lightly. Tut does nothing to accuse anyone of anything, or take sides in a fight, but tends to be put in the middle, attempting to solve a puzzle that has a million two-sided pieces. Luckily, having to be rather insightful in order to be the Thunum, he does this rather well.
Tutkhu was born to a Jaqgvolk called Soscho Medhsemdula, and her mate, a Lukuo not from the tribe. By force of generations of tradition, Soscho brought Tutkhu back to the tribe to be marked, so that they might live in peace on their own. The Thunum, who was also currently acting as their Shonom, refused to let him go; he said great things were destined for the baby Tutkhu, and he needed to be among his own kind. Heartbroken, Soscho left him in the care of the Thunum's apprentice, and left, vowing never to return, no matter the circumstances. She was deemed a lost cause; the Thunum/Shonom outcasted her, and that was that. Unfortunately, the old bird had gone senile, and so Soscha had suffered and left them for nothing. Tutkhu was destined for nothing but a regular life as a regular Jaqgvolk; the Thunum had gotten it wrong. Soon after that, he died.
All throughout Tutkhu's childhood, he acted like a wild beast, running across the sand dunes barefoot, prodding Sand Tmukas with short sticks, and all-around getting himself into trouble. The only other nioti who was willing to put up with him was Nume, a girl with just the sense of trouble Tut had. Together they'd terrorize the tribe, and, when that wasn't enough, they'd pull prank wars to epic proportions, usually resulting in being locked up for disturbing the peace. Life went on this way, until the day they were presented their adult identities. It was an amazing moment, especially when they were both given the second name Yfl, which no one but the Thunum knew the meaning of; it tied them together, friends forever. And then they recieved their masks. Tutkhu's was plain, mostly unadorned but for a single painted line around the edge and a painted beak, but Nume's...hers had feathers galore. It was bright and colorful, and she would stand out in a crowd even of regular Pendragons and Lukuo, with her long, slim neck and blossoming figure. In that moment, jealousy made Tutkhu stupid; he chose to give up his pranks and playful attitude, and instead became as cold and unfeeling as he could make himself, avoiding Nume and her beautiful mask at all costs. He did irreversible damage to their friendship, and even later, after he'd been trained as a Thunum and learned why it was their masks were different, he couldn't find it in himself to apologize. He'd humiliated himself enough already.
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